


It's only a matter of time

by WinterMunchkin05



Series: Where words fail, music speaks [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bloody little secrets uncovered, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Stalking, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, There are parts that don't make sense but eh movie hand wavy logic, dark bucky barnes, murder spree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:53:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27774103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterMunchkin05/pseuds/WinterMunchkin05
Summary: “I don’t know what’s your problem, Stevie. I’m not doing anything wrong.” Barnes said dryly—totally off with his expression. “It’s such a pretty song. Heard it years ago while on a mission. A greatreminderof the times I get to be out of the ice.”
Relationships: Can be interpreted as not unrequited, Implied One-sided Stony, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, depends on how you see it idk
Series: Where words fail, music speaks [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1640227
Comments: 13
Kudos: 121





	It's only a matter of time

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of self-indulgence. This fic's been in my head for weeks and I hope you enjoy this.
> 
> Unbeta'ed as usual and all mistakes are mine.  
> Heed the tags please.
> 
> Everyone please stay safe! 😘😘😘

“Well, look who decided to finally grace us with his presence.” Clint snickered as he turned his swivel chair to face Tony. He turned to nudge Natasha, “It’s your brother, the Black Widower.”

“You’re a dick, Barton.” Tony snapped half-jokingly, snagging another chair to seat with the team. Natasha was quick to slap the back of the archer’s head.

“Ow!” Clint cried. “What was that for?”

Rhodey, who immediately flew in after hearing about their latest dilemma, snorted, “Thank you for saving me the trouble, Romanoff. I was about to do it myself.”

“You’re welcome, Colonel.” Natasha replied, smirking. “Though really, it’s more of me not wanting someone else to take up my schtick.”

The new guy, Sam Wilson, grinned though he didn’t say anything. Probably because the man was just getting used to hanging out with the team. Well, Tony supposed it’d only take a little more time before Feathers 2.0 began opening up to them. The guy didn’t strike Tony as the shy type.

“Guys.” Steve said sharply, still watching their ‘guest’ like a ha—…er, maybe, just to keep with the spirit of patriotism, an eagle.

They all settled into their seats a few meters away from the reinforced glass of the Hulk playroom. Thor was off-world whilst Bruce was back to doing volunteer work in Asia, thus it was up to them to keep an eye on the person they’ve rented Brucie’s room to.

Tony shifted in his seat, avoiding to look at the glass. It was the second day of ‘officially’ interrogating the guy. He didn’t want to be there however, Capsicle was insistent that everyone be aware of any information they could wring out of the man. Anyone who would be given the chance to listen to Tony would, without doubt, veto Cap’s decision to let him be around their new housemate.

That was the only logical route to take.

It had been over a year, but it still felt like Tony had just found out about what went down in DC every time he set foot in the Hulk room and got the shock of his life when Natasha and Steve told him about the truth behind his parents.

HYDRA was hiding inside SHIELD and she, Rogers, and Wilson all worked together to take them down. Fury was killed by an assassin before shit hit the fan and Maria Hill helped them with disabling the helicarriers that would carry out HYDRA’s objectives for Project Insight. After a fight—one that Cap must’ve thought was gonna be his death—that landed Rogers in a hospital, Natasha called up Clint to help capture the infamous Winter Soldier. Tony almost couldn’t believe his ears when he heard that the guy was, in truth, Bucky fucking Barnes. The man didn’t die from that ravine in ’45, he survived. Tortured and brainwashed by the Nazi fucks to do their bidding—a true to life Manchurian Candidate. The whole thing took a turn for the worst when Cap confessed that Zola—whose consciousness was uploaded to numerous old ass databanks like some prehistoric Transcendence shit—implied that HYDRA was behind the death of his parents. They used their greatest asset, the Winter Soldier to get rid of Howard. Tony’s poor mother, Maria, was just collateral damage.

That was around the time that Tony suited up, hellbent to go on a rampage. He wanted Barnes’ head on a fucking platter. However, since the bastard was on the run, he settled for the closest substitute available— _Cap_. Needless to say, that it took the blond another two weeks of stay in the hospital after the ordeal. Steve was gracious enough to let Tony vent by kicking his ass. So long as Tony didn’t go after his precious Bucky, anyway.

Was he proud of what he did?

No.

He couldn’t even look at Steve straight in the eye when the latter got out. It was only Cap’s determination—stubbornness—that wore Tony down and kept him from going to the cops to file a complaint against _himself_ because he just assaulted his friend in rage. Steve, the equally crazy motherfucker, just chuckled and told him that at least Tony held himself back otherwise they’d be planning a funeral. Tony had never hated and adored someone as much as he did Steve Rogers then.

Tony abruptly locked those thoughts away.

People thought of him as a miracle worker and the guy to achieve the impossible but Steve Rogers was, perhaps, the only one that Tony would never be able to reach. More so now that the good Captain already found his Bucky.

The blond handed him the file he had on the Winter Soldier as well as the ones that Natasha got from the data dump. Pouring over the information repeatedly for a week, Tony had never felt the need to obliterate an organization in his entire life—much more than what he felt for the Ten Rings. He aided Cap in his search for Barnes and after almost a year of hide and seek—there was a reason bastard was called a fucking ghost—they finally got him.

The team decided to keep him in the Tower first because SHIELD was no longer in existence and if it still was, it wouldn’t do them any good considering it was infested from the ground up with HYDRA. Tony had to pull a lot of strings and call in tons of favors to have the custody of the Winter Soldier be awarded to the Avengers. He only managed to pull that off by pointing out how HYDRA had seeped into the government’s greatest intelligence agency and into the World Security Council apart from the fact that the Avengers Tower was the only place in the country with the facilities capable of holding the Winter Soldier. Of course, dropping hints about what he found out about Blonsky and Thaddeus Ross’ little super solider project also helped with that endeavor. Now, here they were.

Tony shook himself out of the reverie but inevitably fell into another one.

He knew well enough that Barnes couldn’t see him because they asked JARVIS to have it two-way but he couldn’t help but feel pinpricks on his skin. The feeling of being a wounded gazelle watched by an apex predator intensified when Clint mentioned the moniker.

* * *

He hated that nickname with every fiber of his being. Worse than the Merchant of Death.

The _Black Widower_. 

It came from the tabloids that ran wild when some of Tony’s exes were killed by a stalker. The entire time was a nightmare. The media vultures first speculated that it was Tony killing them out of revenge because all of them not only cheated on Tony, they tried to sabotage his company too. Howard was dead and speculations that his competitors sent people to sweet talk his heir into giving up company secrets had circulated after the murders. Stark Industries stocks plummeted badly during the investigations and Obadiah was furious.

Fuck, not just Obadiah, Tony as well.

Yes, when he realized that he was only being played and used, he hated them. Sunset, Indries and Tiberius—especially Ty because he outed Tony to the press apart from stealing some of Tony’s designs—but he would never even think about killing them. Goddammit, if anything, he thought about killing _himself_.

Tony blamed himself for how things went wrong with the three of them. Three consecutive relationships that went awry? All of them leaving him and making a point of telling him they never really loved him? Maybe he was the faulty one. Hell, anyone would say that given the data. The pattern’s already there.

Sunset was his first relationship ever—first love, even; Indries was the most exciting (at the time) person in his world while Ty had been a constant. He was a childhood friend/rival that Tony thought getting together was where they truly headed. Despite the disastrous end to what he had with each of them, Tony never had the slightest bit of desire to see them dead. He loved them, for crying out loud! They’d been the biggest mistakes his heart had committed but they didn’t deserve to be murdered in cold blood.

Sunset was the first one to die.

He could still remember how he sobbed in Rhodey’s arms when he heard of what happened to her. Half a year after she left him, Sunset took a shot to the head in a dark parking lot behind a noisy club. No one saw what happened and there was no surveillance in the area. The round that the police found was the only clue they had but it led them nowhere. It was the early 90’s and gun violence was prevalent. According to ballistics, the round used was filled with steel BB. The authorities concluded that Sunset had been at the wrong place, at the wrong time. The case went cold that even Sunset’s parents had no choice but to accept that it was an unfortunate accident.

In the summer of 1996, five years past his parents’ ‘accident’, he met the exotic beauty Indries Moomji. Intelligent, alluring Indries that turned out to be a corporate spy. Tony would say that she was part of the reason he held Natasha at an arm’s length. Natasha reminded him a little too much of Indries, and unfortunately, not in the fun way. Most definitely not with the way Indries had been found dead with a shot to the head in a dark parking lot, same as what happened to Sunset three years back. Hollowed round filled with steel BB. When the news of her death and the information that Indries was neck deep in corporate espionage broke out, investigators assumed that it was one of the companies that she ruined who was behind it. Yanking on that thread naturally brought the suspicion down on Tony and Stark Industries. Obadiah, at first, wanted to send Tony somewhere when the cops came sniffing but Tony was adamant to let them do their job. After all, it would only look even more suspect if Tony disappeared during the time alibis were being checked out. Long story short, Tony was cleared of all the suspicions and Obadiah won the cases he filed against some magazines and tabloids, earning Stark Industries extra money on the side for damages brought on by scandalous headlines.

At least, that’s what they thought.

By 1998, Tony was already out of rehab and simultaneously weathering the shitstorm his asshole of an ex, Tiberius Stone, threw his way when the guy not only broke his heart by betraying him, but also selling their sex tapes to the highest bidder, ergo forcefully pushing Tony out of the closet. Seeing as it was the third ex-lover of his that got their brain matter splattered in the same manner, the police zeroed in on Tony. Solid motive was usually the key to solving a murder, which, in this case, Tony had in spades. The police tagged him as the prime suspect when they found Ty dead inside his car in a—yes, another secluded parking lot. Ballistics report revealed that the killer, like what happened with the previous murders, also used a BB-filled round and, the most damning of all—the round was matched to the ones used for a _Stark_ made pistol.

The media had their Macy’s parade and revenge on both Obadiah and Stark Industries through the findings, especially when the cases for Sunset and Indries’ murders were re-opened. Stocks went into free fall and even the military was trying to pull away from their contracts with SI. Well, duh, they’re part of the government and their weapons supplier was under suspicions of multiple homicide. But, the tides turned in Tony’s favor when a witness came forward from around the time of Indries’ murder.

The witness, who was a small-time drug dealer, said that he was in the parking lot almost an hour before Indries was killed. He didn’t see what exactly happened to her because he decided to jet when his client ran late. However, he added to his statement that while waiting, he had seen someone lurking around the parking lot as well near Indries’ car. A tall, well-built man dressed in black. He caught a glimpse of the man’s face and helped the police with the composite sketch. Imagine the surprise when the guy turned out to be Tony’s stalker. The stalker that his parents had called the cops on years back when the man tried to kidnap Tony back in ’89.

Some people were still skeptical and conspiracy theories about how SI paid the man to take the fall had emerged, but all doubts were erased when the police reported that the fingerprints found on Indries’ car were a match to the man—verifying their only witness’ account—and that the Stark pistol was recovered from his place. Along with a DIY sub-machine gun and boxes of steel BB.

Obadiah, never one to miss an opportunity, capitalized on the news. The sympathy angle worked for the company, made them recover and regain the military’s trust. And the rest, as people say was history.

* * *

“What the fuck?”

Wilson’s incredulous whisper dragged Tony back to the present. He was about to ask when he recognized the sound from the speakers installed in the Hulk room. His blood ran cold when he realized what it was.

"Is he trying to be cute or what?” Clint asked with a shudder. He reached over to the controls and pressed a button for the intercom. “Knock it off, pal. We’re not gonna let you out of there.”

“Buck?” Cap asked, clearly confused. “What are you doing?”

The question halted the tune and the half-smirk Steve got in return might have been swoon-worthy if not for the deranged gleam in Barnes’ eyes.

“I’m just sitting here getting comfy, Stevie.” He replied then continued humming.

The carefree response raised the hair on the back of everyone’s necks. This was not the automaton that beat the living fuck out of Captain America in the helicarrier. This was HYDRA’s Asset purposely using whatever remains of Bucky Barnes’ memories he had to mess with them. The man sat on the floor, flattening his back against the wall opposite the opaque glass.

Tony nearly dropped the tumbler filled with his green juice as his hands shook. Natasha quickly sensing his discomfort, called out to him. The sound also drew Steve’s attention to him.

“Tony? What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer her. Not that he needed to because the involuntary jolt he got when the tune got louder was enough for her and Steve to figure out what’s wrong. He quickly shook his head and paid attention to the holoscreen that JARVIS popped up in front of him. It was the update for the War Machine armor but Tony knew it was just JARVIS’ own way of helping him out of further questioning.

“Bucky!” Steve shouted at the comm, “Stop it!”

The brunet soldier stopped, eyes glued to Tony’s general direction— _that was impossible. How the hell was he still able to see them?_ —a pleased half-lidded look taking over his face at the commotion.

“I don’t know what’s your problem, Stevie. I’m not doing anything wrong.” Barnes said dryly—totally off with his expression. “It’s such a pretty song. Heard it years ago while on a mission. A great _reminder_ of the times I get to be out of the ice.”

It was Rhodey’s turn to rage, almost shoving Steve away from the mic, “What the fuck are you talking about, you son of a bitch?”

An enigmatic smile appeared on Barnes’ lips. “Is there something to talk about?”

“Mothe—”

“Rhodey.” Tony grasped his arm, “let it go. We need to check on your suit’s update down the lab.”

“Tones,” Rhodey replied, ire evaporating.

Tony made a mental note to upgrade the EXO wings when Sam chimed in after nudging Steve to turn off the comm.

“Why don’t you guys do that and we’ll fill you in on whatever we’ll get out of Barnes.”

Tony nodded and flashed the Airman his best salesman smile, “Thanks, Feathers.” He turned to the others, “Sorry, Rhodey and I got a date with JARVIS.” Tony’s smile became more natural when JARVIS answered.

“Shall I tell the waiter to bring over the entrée while I continue to wait for you and Colonel Rhodes, Sir?”

“Excuse me?” Rhodey said in mock surprise.

“Sass, sass, sass.” Tony muttered while the others chuckled. 

The exchange did the trick and the tension dissipated—mostly. Who was Tony kidding? The rest knew something was up but Rhodey was present thus he was sure they’d pester him later when his best friend left the Tower. Sucks for them though, with Barnes showing that HYDRA truly did a number on him, Rhodey would stay for as long as he could.

* * *

Tony spent the whole elevator ride to the lab chewing on his thumb nail and vibrating with anxiety. Rhodey, only wrapped an arm around his shoulders. When they reached the lab, he immediately told JARVIS to activate blackout protocols. And because his paranoia was at an all-time high due to the Winter Soldier’s little display, he also had JARVIS shut down the vents, in case Natasha had the idea to send Clint after them.

“He killed them.” Were the first words that burst out of him as he paced back and forth.

“Tony, we got the killer years ago.” Rhodey returned, “I know you hate that song but maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

“It’s not a coincidence and you know it!” he roared, snapping the older man’s jaw shut. “Rhodey, he was taunting me back there. I can feel—no, I can _see_ it. It’s so fucking obvious. He. Killed. Them.”

“We don’t have proof, Tones.”

“Are you actually defending that bastard, Rhodey?”

Rhodey sighed and pulled him into a hug. “Of course not. I just don’t want to jump to conclusions, man.”

“He knew, Rhodey. He knew how I’d react to it. We hid it for years. There’s no way he’d know.”

“I know, I’m sorry if it sounded like I’m defending his crazy ass. I just don’t want you to remember those times.”

“It’s kinda hard not to when Barnes goes out of his way to deliberately remind me.”

“Goddamn him,” Rhodey half-snarled, “I wish we could just execute that bastard ourselves.”

“We can’t. We declared him a POW. Capitol Hill’s gonna be riding our asses if we get rid of him. Besides, Rogers would go berserk if we hurt the guy.” Judging by the scoff he got from the older man, he didn’t manage to hide the bitterness in his last sentence well enough.

“Then we’ll throw both their asses in jail. They could rot behind bars together.”

Tony snickered despite himself, “Barnes, sure. But _Rogers_? On what grounds?”

“Breaking my little bro’s heart.” Rhodey replied solemnly. Tony couldn’t help the raucous laughter that escaped him. It went up a notch when Rhodey scowled, “I was being serious, you little shit. I’d kill anyone who hurt you.”

Gallows humor wasn’t really their thing and was kinda, given their conversation, borderline disgusting but Tony was always one to go with the moment. “I love you too, bro.”

“Yeah, yeah. No need to kiss my ass. Pepper and Happy would say the same thing too.” Rhodey sniffed, rolling his eyes.

It took two minutes before his mirth diminished enough for them to go back to their topic. “Rhodey.” Tony said, his voice cracking, “That stalker…wasn’t the one who killed them. I knew something was up with the murders but I ignored it.” The headline from the tabloid about the stalker getting shanked during a prison brawl came into his mind, “God, we sent the wrong person behind bars and he was killed.”

“You’re going to hate me for this,” Rhodey started, “but he deserved it. He was going to hurt you too. Let’s say he didn’t kill Sunset and the others, he was sending you those fucked up shit and he did try to kidnap you. Who knows what would have happened if he got his way?”

Tony didn’t bother hiding the wince that came over him. The man’s packages started before the kidnapping attempt and then progressed up to Ty’s death. Tony found out that the man had some police background too, thus was able to evade capture for quite some time. At first, the deliveries were just fan letters that no one thought was amiss, then pictures of Tony from news clippings and magazines, afterwards came the photos taken without Tony knowing which alarmed Maria. Howard had immediately contacted the police when the most disturbing package came in—some cut up pieces of Tony’s old clothes that had been thrown away, along with three used condoms, tied up with the semen still inside.

After the botched kidnapping, the disturbing letters still came in. Sometimes, which Tony thought was strange, even for a stalker, the sicko would send two _different_ boxes—one with the letters, recorder, condoms and clothes, the other just the letters and the recording. The inclusion of the song in a tape recorder didn’t start until after Indries died. Good lord, Tony couldn’t get away from it. The damned song was one of the most popular songs back then—up until now even. It was a lovely feel good song but the romantic atmosphere it created was already ruined by Tony’s goddamn stalker. The first few notes alone were enough to send his anxiety into overdrive.

But, the main question would be…how the fuck did Barnes knew about it? Tony never told anyone but Rhodey about the song. They kept that away from the media because they didn’t want people to add in more stressors to Tony’s already convoluted life. No one knew.

So how?

According to the files, Barnes was in and out of cryostasis for decades. The man would be ‘wiped’ clean before and after every mission. There was no way for Barnes to learn about it, unless HYDRA had a sick sense of humor and played a fucking love song while electrocuting the shit out of the guy.

“Maybe that stalker was part of HYDRA.” Rhodey mused, making Tony realize that he had said his thoughts out loud. “Like, he was humming it around Barnes at the time or he was Barnes’ handler, that’s why it stuck.”

Tony mulled that over. If the guy truly were HYDRA, he should’ve been able to cover his tracks well enough not to get caught. Well, he did get away from authorities for years after the botched kidnapping, however, the fingerprints and the guns were so sloppy. Something didn’t add up. But where was Tony going to start?

It sounded ridiculous but then again, their lives thrived on lunacy, so perhaps, Rhodey was right, “I dunno, Honeybear,” he sighed, raking a hand through his hair, “I’ll have JARVIS comb through some servers later to see if I missed something. If only we have surveillance footage for the murders.” That was one of the things that frustrated the police—all three died in dark parking lots out of range from security cameras.

Rhodey clasped a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, you know that I have your back right?” 

“I know and I’m happy you do.”

“You gonna be okay?”

The question could mean a lot of things but Tony just settled for the easiest one, “Yeah. I’ll just work on the upgrades for your suit while you talk with the others.”

Rhodey nodded then called out to JARVIS, “JARVIS, alert me immediately if Tony’s about to do something stupid.”

“Certainly, Colonel.”

“Hey!

* * *

“Y’know, I don’t know why you hate me so much. If anything, we should be friends. I did you a favor because you helped me out a couple of times before. I actually have a _lot_ of respect for you. Much more than I have for my handlers.” The Soldier chuckled, letting his head fall back against the pristine white wall. “Well, I guess the bar’s too low by normal standards but trust me, I do respect you.”

The Avengers were no longer around and the AI was silent. He was free to talk. “Imagine manipulating everyone while hiding in plain sight. At such a young age too. The way you pinned all of it on the stalker? That shit’s so impressive. Takes a lot of skill and brains. No wonder he likes you so much.” He tilted his head, blinking slowly at the person on the other side of—the now clear—glass, “What? No questions? Bummer.”

“What do you want?”

“From you?” The Soldier grinned, “Nothing—oh, I guess, I should say there is. _Him_. I want him.”

“Like fuck I’ll let you!”

The Soldier arched an eyebrow, whistling low when the glass almost shook when the other’s fist slammed against it. Quite surprising for a baseline. “It’s not like I’m going to hurt him.” He sighed wistfully, “I remember how pretty he looked back then, crying over Moomji. Same with Stone. He looked so fucking _sweet_. I guess...it was love at first sight.” He laughed, more so when his visitor bristled, “How his eyes filled with tears when you turned on that tape recorder and the song played? It was—”

“Shut the fuck up!”

He frowned. The kid really interrupted him.

How rude.

“Now, now, kid. You caught a lucky break when that shithead followed both Moomji and Stone around wanting to do the same thing, but you seem to not appreciate the fact that _I_ did you a solid when I took the gun you threw away after you killed Stone, cleaned it for you _and_ planted it in the guy’s place.”

“Stay away from him.”

Goodness, how very dull.

“Both Stone and Moomji were my missions but you finished them off for me. Which of course, gave me more time to see Tony.” The other man’s face became more murderous by the second. “You’re a smart man. It’s just a simple trade. You be good to me, I’ll be good to you. We both know you only wanted people to be good to Tony.” The Asset smiled in that rakish manner he remembered Bucky Barnes do in those old films at the Smithsonian, “And believe me, I’ll be very, _very_ good to him, _Colonel_.”

* * *

_We were as one, babe_

_For a moment in time_

_And it seemed everlasting_

_That you would always be mine_

_Now you want to be free_

_So I'll let you fly_

_'Cause I know in my heart, babe_

_Our love will never die, no_

_You'll always be a part of me_

_I'm part of you indefinitely_

_Boy, don't you know you can't escape me?_

_Ooh, darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby_

_And we'll linger on_

_Time can't erase a feeling this strong_

_No way you're never gonna shake me_

_Ooh, darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby_

_I ain't gonna cry, no_

_And I won't beg you to stay_

_If you're determined to leave, boy_

_I will not stand in your way_

_But inevitably_

_You'll be back again_

_'Cause you know in your heart, babe_

_Our love will never end, no_

_You'll always be a part of me_

_I'm part of you indefinitely_

_Boy, don't you know you can't escape me?_

_Ooh, darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby_

_And we'll linger on_

_Time can't erase a feeling this strong_

_No way you're never gonna shake me_

_Ooh, darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby_

**Author's Note:**

> There we go. So, I just had my man Rhodey ape a stalker's M.O and kill Tony's bitch-ass exes because he's so fed up with seeing his little bro cry.  
> I've always wanted to have Rhodey kill those bitches. LMAO.🤣🤣  
> Ever since I saw Rhodey shoot that bulb in IM3.  
> Plus, Protective Rhodey will always be my kink.
> 
> Edit: I put the wrong movie!! I meant Transcendence, I was watching Inception before I posted this xD


End file.
